Not just Shark
Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and
chimaera's from around the world. Elasmodiver began as a simple web
based shark field guide to help divers find the best places to
encounter the different species of sharks and rays that live in
shallow water but it has slowly evolved into a much larger project
containing information on all aspects of shark diving and shark
photography.
There are now
more than 5000 shark pictures and sections on shark evolution,
biology, and conservation. There is a large library of reviewed
shark books, a constantly updated shark taxonomy page, a monster
list of shark links, and deeper in the site there are numerous
articles and stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so
difficult to check for updates, that new information and pictures
are listed on an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:
The North American Shark Diving Tour - Walking The Dog
First published in
Shark Diver Magazine March 2010
WALKING THE DOG...
In the quest to photograph rare and endangered sharks and rays I have found
myself in some unusual situations. I've jumped off research vessels into
racing currents, snorkeled down rivers and hitched rides on commercial
fishing boats. But this was one of the goofiest shoots I have ever taken
part in.
Claire and I were in Rhode Island staying with Joe Romeiro who's short film
Death of a Deity recently won him the 'Best Emerging Film Maker Award' in
the Blue Underwater Film Festival. Joe is a self confessed shark fanatic.
His house is a shrine to everything sharky, complete with a large tank that
holds a variety of small sharks that Joe has rescued from fishing nets and
cramped home
aquariums and is in the process of rehabilitating.
When I told Joe that one day we hoped to photograph a chain dogfish, a
beautiful little catshark that lives all along the east coast from New
England to the Caribbean, Joe suggested that we take one of his recovering
chain dogs for a walk at the beach. Initially, I thought he was joking but
the more we talked about it, the less hair brained the idea seemed.
Chain dogfish (Scyliorhinus retifer) normally live at depths between 200ft
and 2000ft making them virtually inaccessible to all but the most
experienced tech divers. I have heard of tech heads diving really deep
wrecks in the Carolinas that are literally covered with chain dogs but
without a lengthy and expensive trimix course there isn't much chance that I
will see one any time soon.
We also wanted to photograph some of the skate species that live off Rhode
Island so while we were swimming around with little skates we were keeping
our eyes open for a suitable spot to walk the dog.
King's Beach near Newport turned out to be ideal. It was close enough to
Joe's house to so that the hardy little shark wouldn't have any trouble with
the journey and it has some nice varied terrain offering us a choice of back
drops for the shoot.
We waited till late afternoon when the sun would be the least stressful to
the deep water shark and with everything prepared, Joe scooped up the tiny
chain dogfish (that we affectionately named Steve) and lowered him into a
bucket just big enough to keep him comfortable without letting him slosh
around on the winding roads. Joe then transferred Steve (in his bucket) into
his girlfriend Emma's SUV and we began the zip across town to Kings Beach.
I confess that we probably bent a few traffic laws to make sure that Steve
didn't spend too long in his cramped environment but being a buccal
ventilator (able to suck in oxygen rich seawater without having to swim
forward) the tiny catshark would probably have been fine for hours.
At the beach the three of us raced to get our gear on while Emma carried
Steve down to the shallows and lowered the bucket into the sea to let the
water temps equalize. Some curious tourists asked what we were doing with
all the cameras so we said that we were going shark diving. They asked
rather nervously if there were many sharks in these waters but we said "No,
we brought our own" which left them with baffled looks on their faces.
It was a comical site as the three of us stood in waist deep water waiting
for the shark to be released. After some discussion on how best to liberate
Steve I reached into the bucket and scooped him up in one gloved hand
and swam slowly into clearer water where we could follow him if he decided
to bolt.
As soon as he was released he sensed freedom and shot skyward then drifted
back towards the sea bed with us in hot pursuit. For a few seconds it looked
as though Steve was going to disappear into the depths but before long he
got used to his enormous escorts and swam slowly around while Claire and I
took pictures from every angle. Once we were happy, Joe took over with his
video camera and filmed some beautiful sequences of the exquisitely
patterned catshark swimming over the reef.
When Claire and I headed back to shore to give Joe a little more space we
found Emma waiting in the shallows with the bucket and before long Joe
materialized with Steve swimming ahead of him. Every now and then he would
put a hand near Steve's left or right side to keep him pointed in the right
direction. As they reached the shore Emma dropped the bucket back into the
water and deftly scooped up Steve who seemed none the worse for wear.
We drove water logged back to Joe's house and quickly slipped Steve back
into his tank with the other sharks which are in various states of
rehabilitation. Periodically, Joe and Emma checked to make sure that Steve
was doing ok and the last report we got was that he was behaving as though
nothing had happened. I imagined the conversation in the shark tank that
night "Guys, you're never gonna believe what happened to me... "
Considering the condition that Steve was in when Joe first got him, he is
now in great shape so the next time that Joe decides to take him for a walk
it will be a one way trip. He plans to choose a site where there is a drop
off close to shore so that the shark can find its way into deep water
without too much effort.
